In fact, he attributes some of his success to his eight-year-old crew, Kai Johnston.

'I credit a large part of this win to my fantastic crew, Kai Johnston, who only started crewing at the beginning of this season, but has become really professional at the tender age of eight,' says Harris.

Greg Harris and Kai Johnston on their way to a win

Rhys Llewellyn

Second place went to Paul Armstrong and his young crew, William Armstrong (7), from Dobroyd Aquatic Club (DAC) NSW, and third place went to Brien Hennessy and Rosalie Hennessy (8), from Perth Dinghy Sailing Club in WA.

The first veteran, Bill Peterson and his crew Nina Peterson, also from NSW, ranked 10th overall.

The first junior team, Jerome Watts (14) and Oliver Gorman (12), from Georges River Sailing Club (GRSC) NSW, placed 21st overall. The second junior team was Matt Doyle and Matthew Arthur from DAC, and third was Georgia Llewellyn and Eleanor Macgregor from NLSC.

Watts says that while it was a very testing regatta, he and his crew sailed better than they ever have before and, more importantly, had plenty of fun on and off the water.

'We definitely sailed our best, but the real highlights of the regatta were the social events. You just can’t find a more fun class of boat than the Heron,' he says.

With Mother Nature throwing every sort of weather pattern at the fleet, it offered everyone the chance to sail in all conditions and evened out the strengths and weaknesses of each team and their boats.

Twenty knot breezes gave the heavy boats a fighting chance, light breezes saw the smaller teams head further up the pack, while storm squalls and chop that created dizziness akin to spinning in a washing machine tested the entire fleet.

Little boats, big start

Rhys Llewellyn

On two of the six race days, the 11-foot Herons even had 40-foot yachts and Etchells to be mindful of as each class raced around the same course. It certainly made for some interesting and challenging meetings on the water.